Sound design and mixing for commercials

A commercial has a few seconds to stand out. After that the viewer grabs their phone, or the listener switches stations. Sound plays a much bigger part in that than you might think.

I’ve worked on radio and TV commercials for clients including Efteling, Schrobbelèr and MinuteTrack, from sound design to the final mix. Every job is different, but the challenge is always the same: in twenty or thirty seconds, everything has to be right.

And that’s nothing new to me. Before I went freelance, I made a great many commercials at studios in Hilversum, Amsterdam and Vught. For brands like ING, Calvé, Knorr, Peijnenburg, Expert, Toverland, Makita, Disney Home Entertainment and Praxis, to name just a few.

Radio

On the radio there are no pictures. Everything the listener needs to see, they have to hear. A door opening, a busy market, a bottle being unscrewed, etc. With sound I build the set in which the voice can tell its story. And it has to be clear straight away, because the listener is often driving or working and only half listening.

Does a voice need to be recorded as well? Then I’m happy to direct it, so the brand name is pronounced properly and the joke lands at the right moment.

TV

A TV commercial is all about the interplay between picture and sound. A logo flying into shot or a product sliding across a table, you want to hear that. And exactly on the right frame. I’m a bit of a stickler about that.

The mix

An ad break is a row of spots that all want to sound just a bit louder than the one before. Yet radio and TV have strict rules on loudness. The trick is to make a mix within those rules that sounds punchy and stands out, while the voice-over always stays clear. Whether you’re watching on a big TV, through your laptop speakers or on your phone.

Below you’ll find some of the commercials I’ve worked on.